The Daytona 500 Experience

Start your engines everyone, and join me on a wild race through the Daytona 500 Experience, at the Daytona International Speed-way, in ( where else?) Daytona, FL. They have lots of cool stuff at the Daytona 500 Experience, like IMAX movies, Racing simulators, and lots of really awesome displays. This place has lots of exciting stuff for everyone in your family, even if you don't THINK you like NASCAR (The National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing). I took my family there, so I know what I'm talking about. My step-mom and sister, Tiffany, are the 2 biggest NASCAR fans I know, but my dad and I really just like fast cars. All of us had a BLAST!

The first person we met was Mandy Wyrick. She's the Group Sales Manager at the Daytona 500 Experience. She gave us an indoor tour. It was AMAZING! There are lots of life-sized cars to see, like last year's Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman's #12 car, Dale Earnhardt's famous #3 car, and the Bluebird V, the world's fastest car. They have another display has race cars driving around a curving bank, and as they stretched farther back, the cars went from newest to oldest, and the older ones were all white, like ghost cars! Another awesome display showed all the types of vehicles that race on the speed-way track, like motorcycles, dirt-bikes, and even Go-Carts...that's right, real Go-carts race around the race track here. They also have the Goodyear Heritage of Daytona museum, with lots of pictures and trophies, and information about the Daytona International Speed-way, and the Daytona 500. They have footprint molds of many Daytona 500 winners, and even have an original part of the road where they first had the race. There's lots of other stuff to see, read, watch and learn, it would be a great field trip for you class too!

There's interactive stuff too. We got to do the 16-Second Pit Crew Challenge. That was lots of fun, but fast! We got to see a real pit crew change the tire on a race car. They did it in less than 5 seconds! Then, me and my Dad tried it...let's just say I told my dad not to quit his day job...we changed the tire in about 25 seconds.

We also got to see 2 IMAX movies. The first one was about the history of the Daytona 500, and told about a lot of things you can see for real in the museum. The next one was fantastic! It was a 3-D movie of being in an actual race! It was SOCOOL!!!! It really felt like I was there! We also did Dream Laps. It's a movie-ride where you sit in a seat that moves with the movie in a race, it was really cool too.

After our inside tour, we got to meet Ed, our tour guide for the actual Speed-way. That's right- we got to go ON THE TRACK! It was HUGE! Ed told us the track is 2 miles long, and that the turns are called Banks, and go up in the air at an angle of 31 degrees, which is really steep. He showed us Lake Lloyd, a man-made lake in the inner part of the Speed-way. They made Lake Lloyd by digging out the dirt they used to support the high banks. Now they have fishing events with race car drivers.

Ed also showed us the Grand Stands, where most of the fans sit, and the RV Park, which has electricity, running water, and even Cable TV connections. Then we got to go into the Press Box, where the news reporters sit during the races, and the Executive Suite, which is reserved for Very special guests...Ed told us that admission to the Executive Suite on race day is like $90,000!

And then it was off to the races at Acceleration Alley. The best race simulator I've ever seen! First, we went in a room where someone on a t.v. explained what we were supposed to do, then we got to pick our own car. The simulators actually looked like real cars, with doors, and a window-net, seat belts, and everything. Each car gets their own 3 screens, yes, 3 screens...1 in front, and 1 on each side. The cars move with the race, they go up when you're on a bank, and they shake really bad when you hit anything, and I mean ANYTHING...you don't turn on the bank right, and it feels like you're gonna flip over! But, it was really like racing in a real race! My dad crashed into my car, and my car did flip, on the screen, but the car I was in shook enough to scare me at first, but it was so much fun you can't even imagine!

When the race was over, everybody got their own report...how well they did, what was their fastest lap, what place they were in at the end of each lap, what was their fastest speed, and stuff like that. It was really neat, we just had to do it again!

We had an awesome time at the Daytona 500 Experience, and I'm sure you will too! Check out their website, at www.Daytona500experience.com, for more information about their different tour packages. Tell your teacher about their educational programs for students. But definitely go to the Daytona 500 Experience, and win your very own Checkered Flag (um...they don't actually give you a flag...but you can buy one in the gift shop).

Reporting to you in Florida for Kidsfriendly Online, this is Robert Hardin, signing off.

My trip to Marineland

Did you know that dolphins have between 80-100 teeth, but they don't chew their food? Or that when dolphins sleep, half of their brain stays awake? Ever hear that dolphins have whiskers like a cat? I learned these and a whole lot of other amazing facts about dolphins at Marineland, in St Augustine, FL.

 Marineland opened to the public in 1938, as the world's first “Oceanarium”. Originally, Marineland was built to be a place where people could film ocean life in a natural setting. It was called “Marine Studios”, and many movies were filmed there. Now it is a Dolphin Conservatory, and is home to 11 Atlantic Bottle Nosed Dolphins. Recently, I  got to visit Marineland, and I was able to meet some of the people working there, and even a few of the dolphins, up close and personal.

When I got to Marineland, I met a dolphin trainer named Laura. She gave me a tour of the park. She showed me the different dolphin habitats, and told me about some of the dolphins. Marineland has the oldest known dolphin in human care. Nelly is about 55 years old, and still likes to play. Marineland also has the only blonde dolphin in human care, Lilly. “In human care” sounds bad, but they really are better off than dolphins in the wild.  Dolphins in the wild usually only live for 25-30 years. Many of the dolphins at Marineland are already older than that. The dolphins in human care don't just live longer, they live better. At Marineland, dolphins get a regular and healthy diet. They also get medical check-ups to make sure they stay healthy. But most importantly, they don't have any predators in the dolphin habitats at Marineland. In the ocean, dolphins have to find their own food, which isn't always nutritional, and they don't have doctors. Dolphins in the wild also have to worry about predators like sharks. The biggest predator the dolphins have to stay way from though are humans. Humans feed dolphins stuff they shouldn't eat, they catch dolphins in fishing nets, and sometimes run over them with boats. So, dolphins are much, much safer at Marineland.

After the tour, Laura took me and and my group, along with another group, into a classroom where she told us more interesting things about dolphins. I learned that dolphins can see both underwater and above water, and that they have tears that protect their eyes from saltwater. Dolphins ears are completely inside, and can hear sounds too high for us to hear, but they can't hear lower sounds, like our voices. Dolphins are born with whiskers, but they fall out after about 5 days. They can grow up to 9 feet long, and weigh up to 650 pounds. In other words, they're really big. Dolphins breathe through the “blow-holes” on top of their heads, and can hold their breath for 8 to 10 minutes underwater.

Finally, after we learned all there is to know about dolphins, well, probably not ALL there is to know, but a lot, we got to put on wetsuits and go meet the dolphins in person!

For this part of the experience, we met Chad, Marineland's head trainer. He brought us into the water with Dazzle and Roxy, 2 of the female dolphins. Chad showed us how he got the dolphins to do what he asked with hand signals, remember, dolphins can't hear our voices. After he got Dazzle to meet us, we got to pet her and feed her fish. Petting the dolphins made me think of soft leather or rubber. Then Chad taught us some hand signals and we got to tell Dazzle and Roxy to do some tricks for us. They jumped and flipped in the air. They waved at us. They even splashed us! It was like they were playing with us, it was so much fun. Dazzle even let my Dad kiss her, but I didn't want to.

After the adventure with the dolphins, we went to the gift shop. They have a lot of really cool stuff. You can get key chains and toys and pictures and clothes and cups...all kinds of different souvenirs. You can even get a painting made by one of the dolphins! We also got to learn about the different programs they have. I was in the “Discover Dolphins” program, and we were in shallow water with the dolphins. That was awesome, but you can go swimming with the dolphins too, they have 2 different plans for that. They also have different kinds of tours where you can watch the dolphins and even meet them without getting too wet.

They have a trainer-for-a-day program, and 2 camps, one for three days, and the other for a whole week! You can find out more about all the different adventures they have at their website,
www.Marineland.net.

Marineland is actually on the beach, so after the gift shop, I got to check out the beach. I found some really neat seashells, and I looked for some shark teeth, but I didn't find any.

I had a GREAT time at Marineland, and I'll never forget it, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes dolphins.